Spinning frame apparatus



Aug. 22, 1967 I G. H. SANDERS ET AL 3,336,739

. S PINNI NG FRAME APPARATUS Filed March 26, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTORS GRADY H. SANDERS BY JOHN K. McCOLLOUGH Emu/WW ATTORNEY I G. H.SANDERS IET'AL 3,336,739

Aug. 22, 1967 SPINNING FRAME APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 26,1965 INVENTORS G RA D Y H SA N D E R 5 BY J O H N K. Mc C OLL O U G HMIL.

A T TO R N E Y Aug. 22, 1 967 H, SANDERS ET AL 3,336,739

SPINNING FRAME APPARATUS Filed March 26, 1965 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 fIOG 8*Sf Start 0 o ..1:|

' Stan I I46 Brake Solenoid INVENTORS GRADY H. SANDERS -JOHNK.MCCOLLOUGH Maw;

ATTORNEY United States Patent Filed Mar. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 442,911. 7Claims. (Cl. 5754) This invention relates to bobbin using textileprocessing apparatus and more particularly to spinning, twisting and thelike frames which can be automatically doffed.

Prior to this invention spinning, twisting or like frames were doifedmanually by an operator. When the bobbins were fully wound the operatorhad to manually lower the ring rail below the bottom of the bobbins inorder to more readily dolf the full bobbin and to wind yarn around thespindle between the whorl and the bottom of the bobbin in order toinsure that the empty bobbin replacing the dolfed full bobbin would windproperly on start-up without the end coming down. The bearing down ofthe ring rail was a hard and arduous task which required the services ofa strong operator. Furthermore, an operator would tend to wrap excessyarn on the spindle to insure that the end would not come down duringstartup. This, of course, resulted in a need for more frequent cleaningof the spindles to prevent the manufacture of damaged yarn due to thebobbin sitting too high on the spindle because of excess yarn woundthereon. Further, manual doffing of a spinning, twisting or like framewas a hinderance to the complete automation of the yarn handlingoperation in a textile mill.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a system ofautomatically bearing down a spinning, twisting or like frame inpreparation for dofiing of full bobbins therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic bear down fora spinning, twisting or like frame which will automatically rewind thebuilder motion for the next cycle.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic beardown for a spinning, twisting or like frame which will automaticallyturn the threadboards up and down when necessary.

A fourth object of the invention is to provide a bear down system for aspinning, twisting or like frame which will eliminate the necessity foran operator to use brute strength to bear down the frame for dofling.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an automatic beardown for a spinning, twisting or like frame which can be integrated withan automatic doifer to automatically prepare and doff the frame.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be clearly apparentas the specification proceeds to describe the invention with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic representation of a portion of a spinning framewith an automatic doifer overhead and with the ring rail in the upposition;

FIGURE 2 is a further schematic representation of a portion of aspinning frame with the ring rail in the down position;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of the doifer guide rail shown in FIGURE 1;and

FIGURE 4 is a schematic electrical diagram of a control circuit forautomatically bearing down a spinning frame.

Looking now to the drawings and especially to FIG- URE 1 the hereindisclosed invention is shown installed on a spinning frame, generallydesignated 10, over which is shown an automatic bobbin doffing anddonning appa- John K. McCullough, Spar- I 3,336,739 Patented Aug. 22,1967 ratus12 awaiting the bearing down of the frame. In the illustratedform of the invention it is shown in cooperation with a conventionalspinning frame but it is within the scope of the invention to apply suchinvention to other frames such as a twisting frame. The automatic bobbindoffing and donning apparatus 12 is not, per se, part of the inventionand can be that illustrated in U. S. Patent No. 3,123,967.

In conventional manner roving is supplied from packages 14 through aconventional drafting system 16 wherein the fibers are aligned andcompacted. From the drafting system 16 the compacted fiber strand passesthrough guides 18 in the threadboard 20 and are twisted and wound ontothe bobbins 22 on the spindles 24. The spindles 24 are rotated inconventional manner by tapes (not shown) which contact the whorls 26 ofthe spindles.

As in a conventional spinning frame the build of yarn on the bobbin 22is controlled by a builder motion which basically controls the positionof vertical movement of the ring rail 28. The ring rail 28 when theframe is first started up reciprocates up and down adjacent the bottomof the bobbin 22 to wind yarn thereon. Then as the bottom portion of thebobbin is filled with yarn the ring rail is moved up automatically towind yarn on a larger section of the bobbin. This continues until adesired portion of the bobbin is wound with yarn.

The operation of the builder motion is basically controlled by a cam .29suitably driven by gears (not shown) within the confines of the head endhousing 30 of the spinning frame. The ring rail 28 is moved by aplurality of vertical rods 32 secured to pivot rods 34 through suitablemeans and is counterweighed toward the up position by a weight 36connected to the ends of pivot rods 34. To control the position of thering rail 28 a rocker shaft 38 is provided and is connected to the drawbar 40 which interconnects all the vertical rods 32 to cause uniformmotion of the ring rail.

As previously pointed out the ring rail 23 is incrementally raised asthe build on the lower portions of the bobbin reaches a desireddiameter. This motion of the ring rail is caused by the rotation of thecam 29 acting on the roller 42 to pivot the builder drive mechanism 44up and down.

The builder drive mechanism basically consists of rod member 46 securedto rotably mounted shaft 48, rotably mounted shaft 50, builder rewindmotor 52 which rotates shaft 50 through pulleys 54 and 56 by means of achain 58, a ratchet wheel 60 rigidly attached to shaft 50 and cooperateswith pawl 62 and support member 64 which is fixed relative to thepivoting builder drive mechanism 44 and has upper and lower stop rods 66and 68 connected thereto.

To transmit the motion of the cam 29 a gear pulley 70 is rotably fixedto builder motion mechanism 44 in engagement with worm 72 on shaft 50.Rotatably supported in spaced relation to the gear pulley 70 is a doublepulley 74 which is rotated by gear pulley '70 through chain member 76. Afurther chain member 78 is connected to double pulley 74 and to rockerarm connected to rocker shaft 38.

The builder motion operates in the following manner. Rotation of the cam29 causes the builder motion mechanism 44 to reciprocate up and down asdictated by the action of the cam surface on the roller 42. On thedownward stroke of the builder motion mechanism the chain 76 will rotatethe pulley 74 causing the chain 78 to wind up on the pulley 74 to pullthe rocker arm 80 toward the pulley 74. When the rocker arm 80 moves inthe above-described direction against the action of counterweight 36 therods 32 will move downward to pull the ring rail 28 down a certain fixeddistance.

of many various types such as Conversely, when the builder motionmechanism 44 moves upward the pulley '74 will rotate in the oppositedirection due to the action of the counterweight 36 and the slackeningof the chain 76 to allow the rods 32 and the ring rail 28 to moveupwardly. It can be seen that extremes of vertical movement of the ringrail are controlled basically by the lengths of the chains 76 and 78.

As previously discussed the yarn is spun on a narrow area of the bobbinand then the yarn area is incrementally increased by allowing the ringrail 28 to reciprocate over a wider area of the bobbin. Basically thisis accomplished by incrementally increasing the length of chain 76 toallow the rocker arm 80 to rotate in a wider arc. The cam 29 is sodesigned that the builder motion mechanism reciprocates a greaterdistance than the space between the stops 66 and 68. Therefore, on eachupward motion of the builder motion mechanism the pawl 62 will contactthe upper stop 66 and thereby engage and rotate the ratchet wheel apredetermined distance. Rotation of the ratchet wheel 60 causes theshaft 50 and the worm 72 to rotate, thereby rotating the gear pulley inthe clockwise direction to slacken the chain 76 in order to allow thering rail 28 to reciprocate over a greater area of the bobbin.

As will be explained hereinafter in conjunction with the control circuitshown in FIGURE 3 the builder motion mechanism 44 is automaticallyrewound. In other words the chain 76 is rewound on the gear pulley 70 inanticipation of the next spinning cycle after the full bobbins have beendoifed. As previously explained the ring rail 28 is placed in its lowestposition (FIGURE 2) when the frame is doffed. In this position thebuilder motion mechanism 44 is also in its lowest position and the pawl62 is disengaged from the ratchet wheel 60 by the lower stop 68. Then torewind the chain '76 rewind motor 52 is energized to rotate the shaft 50in the counterclockwise position to wind the chain 76 back into the gearpulley 70.

Looking now to FIGURES 1 and 2 in conjunction with the control circuitshown in FIGURE 3 the operation of the automatic bear down of thespinning frame will be explained. Approximately ten minutes before thespinning frame is ready to be dolfed, the predetermining counter 82,which counts the yardage of spun yarn, will switch to the doff positionas shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 4. This energizes the time delay coil84 and simultaneously signals the doffer 12 in a manner (not shown) tobe sure that the doifer is in position when the frame is ready to bedoffed. After the above approximate ten minute period has passed timedelay switch 86 will close so that line switch 88 will energize the timemotor 90 the next time the ring rail 28 reaches the top position. InFIGURES 1 and 2 the line switch 88 is located in such a position thatthe pivot rod 34 will close the line switch 88 when the ring rail 28reaches the top position.

The timer motor 90 (not shown in detail) is a cam timer with sixoperated switches (namely 92, 94, 96, 98, and 102) which actsequentially as hereinafter explained. First the cam timer closes switch92 to maintain power to the timer motor 90 to allow line switch 88 toopen as the ring rail 28 descends to the lowest position. Then the camtimer closes switch 94 to energize relay coil 104 to open switch 104A todeenergize the spining frame drive motor 106 and to close switch 104B.Then the cam timer closes switch 96 to energize the solenoid 108 tosupply air to double acting pneumatic cylinder 110 to pivot theactuating arm 112 (FIGURE 2) to pivot the pivot rods 34 upwardly againstthe bias of counterweights 36 to lower the ring rail 28 to the positionshown in FIG- URE 2. As the ring rail descends toward the lowestposition and the spinning frame is coasting to a stop, four to six wrapsof yarn will be placed on the spindle to tie the yarn end down for thenext spinning cycle. In manual operation the operator will normally wrapconsiderably more yarn on the spindle just to be sure the end is tieddown necessitating cleaning of the spindle at more frequent intervals.When the ring rail 28 is lowered to the position shown in FIGURE 2 thepivot rod 34 actuates line switch 114 to close switches 116 and 118 andopen switch 120. Closing of switch 118 energize the builder motionrewind motor 52, since switch 92 has previously been closed, to wind upthe chain 76 on the gear pulley 70 in the manner previously described.Then the cam timer closes switch 98 to energize solenoid 122 to supplyair to pneumatically operated piston 124 which pivots the threadboard 20to the up position out of the automatic bobbin dofling and donningapparatus 12 and closes switches 126, only one being shown for the sakeof illustration, which are operably associated with the threadboardactuating mechanism 128 on both sides of the frame. The closing ofswitches 126 energizes light 129 which is picked up by photocell 130which actuates the doffer control circuit (not shown) to automaticallybegin dofiing of full bobbins from the spindles and replacing them withempty bobbins for the next spinning cycle. A short predetermined timethereafter cycle timer motor opens line switch 92 to stop cycle timemotor 98, deenergize the rewind motor 52 and deenergize solenoid 122 tocutoff the air to piston 124.

After the spinning frame has been doffed and empty bobbins replaced onthe spindles the carrier members 132 of the doifer 12 are raised withthe doffer grasper rails 134 being guided upward in the frame guides136. As the grasper rails 134 clear the frame guides 136 they close oneway actuator switch 138 to energize solenoid 140 to supply air to piston124 to cause the threadboards to be turned down to the run position asshown in FIGURE 1. The operator then resets the yardage counter 82 tothe run position and the spinning frame 10 is now ready for a controlledstart-up.

To start the frame up the operator pushes start button 142 whichenergizes the cycle timer motor 90 since switch 116 is now closed.Switch 100 then closes to maintain the cycle time motor energized whenthe start button 142 is released. Then switch 96 of the cam timer opensto deenergize solenoid 108 to cut the air oif bear down piston 110 toallow the counterweight 36 to cause the ring rail to move up. After thering rail starts up switch 102 of the cam timer closes to actuate relay144 which closes switches 146 and 148 to start the frame motor 106 andclose switch 107 to lock out switch 146 and to energize the solenoid 108to put air on the piston 110 to start the ring rail down. When the ringrail 28 drops a predetermined distance the pivot rod 34 will engageswitch 150 to open contacts 152 and 154 to once again deenergize thesolenoid 108 to cut off air to the piston 110 and allow the ring rail torise. This up and down motion of the ring rail continues until theswitch 102 of the cam timer phases. This motion is necessary on start-upto secure the end of the yarn on the bobbin to prevent long tails on thenext dofiing cycle. Finally, switch 100 opens shutting off the power tocycle timer motor 90 and take up slack in the yarn. At this time cycletimer motor 90 will be at the zero position ready for another doffcycle.

The herein disclosed automatic bear down system for spinning or likeframe eliminates the necessity of an operator struggling to manuallybear the ring rail down to doff full bobbins from the frame and replacethem with empty bobbins. Furthermore, the herein disclosed system isdesigned to work automatically with an overhead doffing and donningapparatus to provide a complete automatic spinning frame dofiing system.

Although we have described in detail the preferred embodiment of ourinvention, it is contemplated that many changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of our invention and we desire to belimited only by the claims.

That which is claimed is:

1. A textile handling arrangement comprising an automatic bobbin doflingand donning apparatus, a yarn handling frame operably associatedtherewith, a plurality of spindles on said frame, bobbins on saidspindles, said spinning frame having a ring rail, a builder motionoperably associated with said ring rail to control the build of yarn onsaid bobbins, means to automatically bear down said ring rail when saidbobbins are ready to be doifed, means to automatically rewind thebuilder motion, signal means to actuate said automatic bobbin doffingand donning apparatus to dolf full bobbins from said spindles when saidring rail has been lowered, said frame including pivotally mountedthreadboards and means to automatically pivot said threadboards upbefore the doffing of the bobbins and down after the dofiing of thespindles, said signal means being actuated by the movement of saidthreadboards into the up position.

2. A textile handling arrangement comprising an automatic bobbin doflingand donning apparatus, a yarn handling frame operably associatedtherewith, a plurality of spindles on said frame, bobbins on saidspindles, said spinning frame having a ring rail, a builder motionoperably associated with said ring rail to control the build of yarn onsaid bobbins, a threadboard pivotally secured to said frame, means toautomatically pivot said threadboard up and to automatically bear downsaid ring rail when said bobbins are ready to be doifed, signal meansoperably associated with said frame to cause said automatic bobbindofiing and donning apparatus to doff full bobbins from said spindleswhen said threadboards are pivoted up and the ring rail has beenlowered, and replace said full bobbins with empty bobbins and automaticmeans to jog said ring rail up and down to securely wrap several wrapsof yarn on said bobbins whensaid frame has been started up afterdolfing, said means to automatically pivot said threadboards upincluding means to actuate said signal means when said threadboards arepivoted to the up position.

3. A spinning frame comprising: a plurality of spindles mounted thereon,bobbins on said spindles, a ring rail operably associated with saidspindles, a pivotally mounted threadboard, a bobbin doffing and donningapparatus, means to pivot said threadboard away from said spindles andsignal means responsive to the pivotal movement of said threadboard awayfrom spindles to actuate said bobbin doffing and donning apparatus.

4. The structure of claim 3 wherein said threadboards are pivoted in anupward direction when said bobbin dofiing and donning apparatus isactuated.

5. The structure of claim 3 wherein said means are provided toautomatically lower said ring rail prior to actuating said dofiing anddonning apparatus.

6. The structure of claim 3 wherein said frame includes a builder motionto control the build of yarn on said bobbins and means to automaticallyrewind said builder motion before each spinning cycle.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein said means to antomatically rewindsaid builder motion includes a ratchet Wheel and pawl and means todisengage said pawl from said ratchet wheel prior to rewinding saidbuilder motion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,926,390 9/1933 Kooistra 242-261X 2,122,434 7/1938 Morton 57-71 X 2,503,099 4/1950 Culbreath 57-542,575,031 11/1951 Smith 242-261 2,587,897 4/1952 Rayfield 57-952,716,632 8/1955 Colvin o 57-52 2,798,356 7/1957 Christiansson 57-54 X2,857,114 8/1958 Arai 242-261 2,892,301 6/1959 Cone 57-111 X 3,015,2031/1962 Heiberg 57-98 X 3,059,407 8/ 1962 Kennedy et al. 57-54 3,072,3501/1963 Anderson et a1. 242-26.4 X 3,075,342 1/1963 Lohest et al. 57-543,101,585 8/1963 Andersen et al. 57-54 3,113,414 12/1963 Negishi 57-543,138,339 6/1964 Jones 242-264 3,231,209 1/1966 Pray et al. 57-54 XFRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. D. E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner.

3. A SPINNING FRAME COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF SPINDLES MOUNTED THEREON,BOBBINS ON SAID SPINDLES, A RING RAIL OPERABLY ASSOCIATED WITH SAIDSPINDLES, A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED THREADBOARD, A BOBBIN DOFFING AND DONNINGAPPARATUS, MEANS TO PIVOT SAID THREADBOARD AWAY FROM SAID SPINDLES ANDSIGNAL MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID THREADBOARD AWAYFROM SPINDLES TO ACTUATE SAID BOBBIN DOFFING AND DONNING APPARATUS.